Wonderful news! I have the Spanish BD, but there's certainly room for improvement.

Oddly enough, I was thinking of El Sur only the other day when recording the commentary for Arrow's upcoming The Night of the Shooting Stars and discussing Omero Antonutti's career - it's probably the highest-profile arthouse film that he made (at least internationally) that wasn't directed by the Taviani brothers. (Although I do have a very soft spot for Pedro Olea's enormously entertaining The Fencing Master, made a decade later.)

I'll be in the UK sometime in September, and if they advertise the dates of the theatrical run soon enough I can plan my itinerary accordingly. The Blu-ray will be a definite purchase, blind or otherwise. Long been curious to see more of Erice.

Erice on Blu-ray would be huge news...been waiting for a UK label to do The Spirit of the Beehive for quite a while now (Optimum had it last). Very happy to see more Spanish cinema in HD in general!

Plenty of stuff is re-released theatrically by the BFI and doesn't make it to Blu-ray thought...but generally because they don't have the home video rights (e.g. studio pictures). Do we know if a Blu-ray is particularly certain in this case?

I notice they submitted it to the BBFC last September (for theatrical release).

rapta wrote:Plenty of stuff is re-released theatrically by the BFI and doesn't make it to Blu-ray thought...but generally because they don't have the home video rights (e.g. studio pictures). Do we know if a Blu-ray is particularly certain in this case?

We don't at all, and of course it may well not be the case. European arthouse cinema in particular is often picked up just for theatrical distribution.

I've been considering to buy the Spanish Blu-Ray every now and then, but a BFI BD would be fantastic and complement Saura's Cria Cuervos nicely as another Spanish title in the BFI series. Who's got Spirit of the Beehive in the UK? I know there was a DVD but I don't remember who put it out (Optimum, in which case it'd be with Studio Canal now?).

rapta wrote:Plenty of stuff is re-released theatrically by the BFI and doesn't make it to Blu-ray thought...but generally because they don't have the home video rights (e.g. studio pictures). Do we know if a Blu-ray is particularly certain in this case?

We don't at all, and of course it may well not be the case. European arthouse cinema in particular is often picked up just for theatrical distribution.

True. Since writing this I had a look at the BFI DCP list and noticed that most of the titles they have released theatrically have been released on home video either by themselves or another label (or at least the rights are presumably still with another label...for example Rohmer's Le Rayon Vert is with Arrow).

So that does in fact imply this will probably get a Blu-ray release by them, seeing as nobody else seems to have the UK rights at the moment (that we know of). We could of course be wrong, and if it's not BFI releasing it themselves, then it will almost certainly be coming from one of the other great UK labels (Eureka, Arrow, Second Run, Artificial Eye).

Calvin wrote:

Finch wrote:Who's got Spirit of the Beehive in the UK? I know there was a DVD but I don't remember who put it out (Optimum, in which case it'd be with Studio Canal now?).

Optimum's release went OOP, so I presume it reverted to the Spanish rightsholder. But I'd be surprised if any UK label hadn't tried to pick it up since.

Does anyone have the DVD? I never managed to get hold of it. It might be a case where the materials aren't in particularly good shape for an HD transfer and would require restoration, in which case it would be a long-term project. But then that doesn't explain why nobody else has released it since, even on DVD. An odd one that's for sure...

Presumably everyone's waiting on somebody to restore it. Either that or some particularly fiddly rights issues.

rapta wrote:Does anyone have the DVD? I never managed to get hold of it. It might be a case where the materials aren't in particularly good shape for an HD transfer and would require restoration, in which case it would be a long-term project. But then that doesn't explain why nobody else has released it since, even on DVD. An odd one that's for sure...

Presumably everyone's waiting on somebody to restore it. Either that or some particularly fiddly rights issues.

Hawks from Criterion, a German silent from MoC, DePalma and Peckinpah from Arrow and Erice from the BFI, all in January. Couldn't ask for a better start to the new year. Hope El Sur sells so that the BFI is encouraged to delve deeper into Spanish cinema, especially more Carlos Saura.

Any more Saura or Erice at this point would be wonderful. Not holding my breath though. Spanish label Divisa have released a lot of both directors' work on Blu-ray, but not sure what the transfers are like.

Obviously The Spirit of the Beehive is the kind of title no label in their right mind would turn down (assuming it has been restored like El Sur).

rapta wrote: Hopefully this will encourage more Erice releases in the UK!

More importantly, hopefully this will encourage Erice to make a new feature film. Apart from some occasional shorts, he didn't make a new full-length film after "El sol del membrillo". What are the reasons for this absence?

However, imdb now lists a 2016 documentary (?) called "Victor Erice: Abbas Kiarostami: Correspondencias", 96 minutes long. Does anyone know more about that film? There was a 2006 book of the same title, but I don't know it

Basically Erice - Kiarostami - Correspondances was an exchange of ten filmic letters which formed a video correspondence between the two directors (i.e. five created & sent by each to the other)... This in turn formed an installation - a juxtaposition of two creative worlds - which exhibited first in Barcelona, Madrid & Paris, and was curated by Alain Bergala and Jordi Balló... 2 catalogues were published, one by the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona & the other by the Pompidou Centre in Paris... Trailer for the installation showing in Melbourne here... Not sure about a 96 minute feature length version, presumably the ten video missives together, perhaps with additional material...

ellipsis7 wrote:Basically Erice - Kiarostami - Correspondances was an exchange of ten filmic letters which formed a video correspondence between the two directors (i.e. five created & sent by each to the other)... This in turn formed an installation - a juxtaposition of two creative worlds - which exhibited first in Barcelona, Madrid & Paris, and was curated by Alain Bergala and Jordi Balló... 2 catalogues were published, one by the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona & the other by the Pompidou Centre in Paris... Trailer for the installation showing in Melbourne here... Not sure about a 96 minute feature length version, presumably the ten video missives together, perhaps with additional material...

There was a series of these inter-filmmaker correspondences, and they're all available in a Spanish box set except for the Erice / Kiarostami ones. They vary wildly in approach. Some are just glorifed video-letters, some are proper stand alone short films (Alonso), and Albert Serra contributes a feature.

However, imdb now lists a 2016 documentary (?) called "Victor Erice: Abbas Kiarostami: Correspondencias", 96 minutes long. Does anyone know more about that film? There was a 2006 book of the same title, but I don't know it

However, imdb now lists a 2016 documentary (?) called "Victor Erice: Abbas Kiarostami: Correspondencias", 96 minutes long. Does anyone know more about that film? There was a 2006 book of the same title, but I don't know it

Recalling her youth in northern Spain during the 1950s, Estrella revisits her relationship with her beloved father Agustín, who was raised in the south, and realises how little she knew of him and his secrets. Víctor Erice’s delicate and mysterious film reveals his abiding fascination with memory and loss, missed opportunities and the links between private dreams and political realities.

Following its well-received theatrical release in September, El Sur now comes to DVD and Blu-ray, released by the BFI on 23 January 2017 in a Dual Format Edition.

The performances, like the meticulously lit compositions and the evocative soundtrack, are superb throughout; Omero Antonutti is a charismatic Agustín, while Sonsoles Aranguren and Icíar Bollaín shine, as respectively, the young and teenaged Estella.

Although less well-known than Erice’s The Spirit of the Beehive, El Sur is exquisitely beautiful and profoundly moving.